Running
by Light Brown Shoes
Summary: Rea didn't expect to be the Avatar. Neither did anyone else. No signs, the worst firebender in the village, and the wrong element, it was impossible that she would be. But now, when she finds out the truth in a moment of desperation, she's almost all alone.
1. Chapter 1

The last time I saw my mother and father alive was that morning. My mother was bent over her metal, melting it to form a small dragon. She was a talented firebender; she could control her fire so well. Unlike me.

I walked up to her and was about to tap her shoulder, but paused as I remembered the last time I did that. She had startled and burned me, and I still have a small scar on my hand, but she says that that will fade. I hoped not. It looked kinda cool.

This time I circled around the room, my footsteps echoing against the metal floor. She was so wrapped up she didn't hear. I walked even slower, and carefully stepped into her line of sight. She did jump a little, but stopped bending and set down the almost-finished dragon. It was still red from the heat, but cooling quickly. I could make out the true color of the metal, it was a dark metal; the type she liked to work with.

She stood up and stretched, her back cracking. Walking over to me, her pale skin glowing, she placed her hands on my shoulder and pulled me into a hug. I embraced back, smelling the metallic smell she always carried, and stepped away. She looked as she usually did, night black hair up in a loose bun with strands falling out. Her full red lips were curved in a smile, and she stared back at me with the bluest eyes… eyes like the sky set over a perfect nose and on smooth skin. Her thin frame was covered in her red and yellow robe. I didn't have any of her beauty; I got my looks from my dad. I appreciate the thin brown hair, brown eyes, too thin and too tall frame he left me, with the tanner skin. (Note the sarcasm.)

"When is Dad coming home?" I asked, and she frowned a little.

"I'm not sure," she said, looking at the bracelet he had given her a long time ago, "He was invited to see the air temples as he was inspecting the Wall… he might be gone a long-" she stopped as a pair of footsteps entered the room. I turned and a smile split my face when I saw my father enter. "-time…" my mother drifted off. He looked at us for a second, the father that leaves and comes back randomly thanks to his job. He held out his arms, and smiled at us.

"Well?" he asked, and we snapped out of our daze and ran at him. He had been gone for three weeks, and I missed him terribly.

"I thought you were going to see the temples!" my mother cried, pulling back. I stayed in his embrace, smelling the spicy stench of his new robe. He was a strong man, tall and thin, (like I said,) but heavily muscled. Lean, I guess.

"I politely declined the offer," he said, smiling. "I wanted to come home. Besides, I've seen them before. Nothing spectacular." He bent over me and kissed Mom on the cheek, and then clapped my back. "Well! I think now you two should get your presents." I squealed and Mom grinned as he took several wrapped packages from his bag.

Several hours later, full from dinner, brimming with happiness, and several toys richer, I opened my window and snuck out. I know I should stay, what with it being my father's first night back and all, but I'd promised Tage that I'd meet him tonight outside the school. We're officially going out, by the way.

I jumped off the low roof and landed on the concrete below, (we used to have grass but I accidentally burned it all when I was two… now we have a large slab of concrete,), and took off toward the school.

The night was a dark one, with only a sliver of moon. The streetlights brightened it some, and I walked through their glow. I lived in a nice neighborhood in a not-so-nice town, because the city I lived in, Tatta, could only pay for so many lights. A lot of people used their firebending to light their way, but I was too out of control with mine. I stuck to streetlights. I felt safe in the streetlights' glow as I walked, but when I got to Bau road, they only made it creepy by casting shadows everywhere. By the time I got to Han street, they were gone. It was very, very quiet, and I walked faster. There were gangs on this street, and they were known for attacking people.

I walked a bit further, crouching down some so I would look like a lowly beggar in the hopes I would be left alone. But two or three minutes into that, after I had fallen countless time, I gave up. I straightened and dared try to firebend. Just a little light, so I could see and then run.

I raised my hand, palm up, and tensed it. With a flicker, a little flame came from the center of my palm, and a warm feeling followed. I smiled, glad I was controlling it. I took a step forward, and the flame remained controlled. My grin split my face, and soon I was running toward the school. I was doing it! Tage would be amazed, (and glad, considering that the last time I tried to firebend in front of him I burned half his hair off,) and so would Mom and Dad… I was so excited, I forgot to pay attention to the noises around me.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Too late, I heard footsteps pounding the cement behind me. I refused to turn and to run faster, after all, I was a brave firebender who COULD CONTROL their fire. In fact, I might have slowed down. But then I heard more pairs of footsteps behind me.

_Crap,_ I thought. I tried to run faster, fear making my heart pound, but I was tackled from behind. Hitting the ground hard, I felt my fire go out, leaving my hand cold in the night's temperature. A hand clamped over my mouth, and though I tried to bite it, I couldn't. My scream was snuffed, and I heard several men's voices talking, though I couldn't see them in the night's light.

"How old? Boy or girl?" a gruff voice asked, and another laughed. The man on top of me adjusted his hand so my nose was free, and I could smell whiskey on his breath. "Girl," he said, and a cheer went through the group. "How old? How old?" and "Does she have biggies?" went through the group.

"I don't know, and they're medium." The one on top of me said, and the men sighed.

"Oh, well." A quieter voice said, one that seemed more terrifying that the others' voices, "We can still have fun." I tried to scream again, but my lungs were being crushed and they all piled around me and lifted me up and I was dragged toward bushes and I was trying to get away but there were so many please no no nononono

_He opened his eyes to muffled screams coming from outside. Groaning, he turned over in his bed. It happened all the time. You can't always be a hero, you know. A pulled a pillow over his head and he drifted back to sleep…._

_Until a bright light shone through the window and male screams were cut short._

_"What the-" He launched out of bed, covers falling to the floor as he peeked out the window, ready to shoot someone. But then he froze. There was a girl outside, eyes glowing and surrounded by a circle of fire… rising above the houses on a pillar of rock. Several dead men lay at her feet, and, with a quick step to the left, two raised hands, and one thrust of the other foot, several houses collapsed to the ground. Other people were waking up now, he noticed, and some were outside. The glowing girl turned to look at them, white eyes seeming to glower. The fire that surrounded her grew, and she yelled in anger as it hit houses, spreading further and further along, anything it touched burning in the poor neighborhood, with houses made of wood._

_People ran screaming from their houses, one woman ran back inside screaming for her baby. He could see other houses in the distance, all falling into the earth as the girl moved about her pillar, causing destruction everywhere. The girl raised her hands and moved her feet, raising hundreds of rock and sending them flying in all directions…_

_The Avatar__… __a sharp intake of breath-_

_And then a rock crashed through his window, killing him._


	2. Chapter 2

I blinked once. And saw that I was above everything. On a pillar of earth. I took a step back, and almost fell off. Windmilling my arms, I regained my balance, and sat down in the center of the pillar, digging my hands into the stone. I hated heights, always have. Then I looked around me.

It was total mayhem, bodies were everywhere and a fire crackled, eating up the remains of buildings. Even the metal ones.

Oh, my gosh. I held down bile and shut my eyes, breathing deeply for a minute.

I crawled to the edge, looking down. There were four bodies at the bottom, next to a ripped-apart shrub. Then I remembered what had happened.

_I struggled as they pulled me closer to the bush, and they were all laughing. I closed my eyes, and everything went black for a second. Then I was floating high up, so, so high. But, this one time, I wasn't scared. I saw a ring of red and yellow and orange grow bigger and bigger and bigger and as it expanded it left everything it touched, little, dollhouse sized buildings and tiny toothpick people, ablaze in a glow that surrounded them. And-_

Was I dead? No, no. I wasn't. I could feel the heat from the fire, and feel pain from the scratches on me. But how did I get up here? What had happened? I crawled back to the center of the pillar, and hugged my knees to my chest. What was going on? What happened to my town? I looked down at the ground._ And how did I get up here?_

That's when I saw some other benders begin to arrive. Waterbenders began to bend water onto the fire, and Earthbenders were creating a hole in the ground that the excess water was running into. The Airbenders were lifting buildings and beams, trying to get people from underneath. I watched for several minutes, and they were slowly increasing in number and easing their way toward my pillar.

"Help!" I shouted, my voice cracking. "Up here! Help me, please!" I shouted, and waved my hands around. An Earthbender dressed in green looked up at me and nudged another Earthbender. Jumping up and crashing down, they brought their hands to the earth. The pillar came down at an alarming rate, and I was left in the air for a full second before following it.

All air left my lungs as I smashed back down, and I lay there gasping for several minutes while the two Earthbenders, an Airbender (dressed in yellow, white and red,) and a Waterbender (in a blue dress,) gathered around me. As soon as I got my breath back and struggled into a sitting position, I asked them the question.

"What happened?" I coughed as some smoke entered my lungs, and the Waterbender offered me some water that was in a pouch on her side.

"We were hoping you could tell us," she said. Her voice was soft and quiet, like she was scared. But her eyes were strong looking. "We got word that the Avatar had risen. The Avatar," her eyes narrowed a bit at me, "Destroyed this town. What element are you? Earth?" I shook my head.

"Fire," I said.

"Then how'd you get up there? Do you have an Earthbender friend?" The Airbender asked.

"No," I said, and took a deep breath. "I was walking to the school, and I was attacked. The next thing I know, I am up there," I pointed to the sky where the pillar had been. "And the town was in ruins." The Earthbender who had seen me knelt down.

"What's your name?" he asked, extending his hand.

"Rea," I shook his hand and he nodded. Then he looked toward the Waterbender. "I'm Ghan." She said. The Airbender spoke up, "Ther." And then the two Earthbenders, first the one who had seen me.

"Yaw."

"Hannakt."

"So, Rea, are you really a Firebender?" Ghan asked. "Because the Avatar is supposed to be an Earthbender." She glared at me. "Are you lying?"

I shook my head furiously, and started to stand. As I put my first leg up, her hand shot out, and water left the hole in the ground, splashing against my leg. And then it turned to ice.

"Hey!" I shouted, falling back, (as much as I could with my lower half attached to the ground,) "Why'd you do that?" She smiled at me, and raised her hands again.

"Because I don't like liars." Her muscles twitched, but the Airbender- Ther- grabbed her hands.

"Wait!" he said. "How about she proves she's a Firebender?" Ghan glared daggers at him, but lowered her hands. "And so what if she firebends? She could just be saying that; she could really be a Waterbender who mastered the elements and is playing us!" Ther looked at her.

"She's a child! It takes years to master the elements!" I really liked Ther. Ghan? Not so much. Ghan ripped herself free of Ther's grasp. "Besides," Ther went on, "What if she firebends for us? Then we'll see." I nodded, and Ghan sighed. "Fine." She growled, and the ice that trapped me melted. I stood up, and prayed that my firebending would work.

Taking a deep breath, I pressed my heel together and rotated my arms. A flame trailed my fingers, and I was able to control it. I smiled.

Until the flames went wayward.

I stopped, trying to make the fire disappear, but it continued in a circular motion, growing bigger for several seconds before disappearing. Ther turned to Ghan.

"See?" he said, gesturing to me. I smiled. Then Ghan's mouth turned upward, into an ugly smile. Before I- or anyone else- could react, she threw an icicle at me. My reflexes kicked in and I raised my hands to protect my face, my palms clenched. The icicle dropped out of the air, and crashed to the ground. Ghan's smile grew even bigger.

"Well, well, well. Looks like we do have a liar in front of us." She took a step forward, and Hannakt fell into a fighting stance. So did Ther- although he looked doubtful- and Yaw.

And, without thinking, I turned and began to run.


	3. Chapter 3

I ran and jumped over debris, but I didn't make it very far before I felt someone smash into me. I twisted my neck and saw Yaw grabbing my hands. I squirmed, but he was solid muscle. He hoisted me to my feet and Ghan walked up, followed by Ther. I didn't see Hannakt, though. Ther looked extremely uncomfortable.

"Ghan! What is the point of this? The child is terrified!" he said, turning to face her.

Ghan's voice was cold. "She ran. Why would an innocent run?" she took another step forward, but Ther grabbed her arm. She wheeled toward him.

"Because she is scared! Look at her eyes!" Ghan glanced at me before looking back at Ther.

"But she ran! So what if she is scared? Even you took a stance, Ther!" Ther looked down. "You see! She's just scared because she's been caught! She's just playing with us, Ther! Open your eyes! Not everyone is good!" Ther looked at Ghan for a second, but then his eyes sagged and he turned and began to walk away. What? No! He couldn't! He was defending me… he was the only one who believed me! Ghan turned back to me and smiled.

"Yaw, go help the rescuers. I'll take care of the girl." Yaw shoved me toward Ghan and I almost fell down, but she grabbed the back of my shirt and held me upright. As Yaw walked away, she leaned close to my face. I tried to back up a little, but her hold on my shirt was tight.

"Now, listen to me," she said, her voice low. "I know you did this. I'm not some stupid girl. And you-" she jabbed my chest with a finger, "- are going to regret lying to me. Now, come on." She jerked me forward and we began to walk.

"Yaazal!" She screamed at a man after about fifty feet of dragging me along, and a Waterbender ran over. He was tall and looked strong, with short blonde hair and tattoos of the moon on his arm. He looked at me, and then at Ghan, and started to smile a little.

"What are you doing to that poor girl, my waterbender?" he asked, and put his arm around her shoulder. She shook it off. "Not now." She snapped. "Look at her! Then look at what's around us! She did this!" Yaazal looked around, then at me.

"What? My dear, you make no sense."

"The other child who was destined to be the Avatar- the Earthbender- must have died early. Then this girl-" she shook me, "took his or her place." She glared at me. Yaazal scratched his head.

"Are you sure?" he asked, looking at me again.

"Yes, I'm sure! She bends fire, and I saw her bend water!" Ghan screeched, and began to walk away at an even faster pace, as I stumbled along. "I have to find a rope for her hands! She's the Avatar! She'll just bend anything else right off!" Yaazal took three steps and caught up to her. He looked doubtful, but he pulled some rope from a bag on his shoulder.

"Here," he handed her the rope. "Use this. But take her straight to the next town over and get her out of it and into a cell as soon as possible."

Ghan smiled at him, and, before whipping me around to tie up my hands, (which I found out was some sort of metal material,) she kissed his cheek. "See you soon," she said, and he pulled her close and whispered something into her ear. Her face went pale, and then we began to walk away. He blew a kiss at her, but she was too busy stepping over debris to notice.

"Wait!" I said, panting. "Why the other town?"

Ghan looked at me as though I was stupid. "Because you destroyed this town." She spat, and sped up.

"But this town is huge! There's no way I- or, whoever did this- could have destroyed it all!"

"Well, you did." She said, and looked up at the sky. "And, according to Yaazal, you also destroyed almost everyone living here as well."


	4. Chapter 4

My heart stopped. Ghan yanked on my collar, causing me to stumble forward.

"Wait… what? There are over a thousand people in this town! How- how many are…" I couldn't even say the word.

"Yaazal says well into the nine hundreds."

My heart still hadn't started back up. Nine hundred? How long had it taken them to find the bodies? How long was I out?

"How long ago was the town destroyed?" I asked, still being pulled along.

She glared at me out of the corner of her eye. "You should know," she spat, and walked faster.

"No! Please, I don't know!" She ignored me and walked even faster. How fast can this girl walk?

And then, just as my heart started to beat again, it stopped when a horrible thought struck me.

"Do you know who's dead? The names?"

"No." She didn't even look at me this time. "But we know for a fact that everyone within a three mile radius is dead." She took a breath. "Including children and infants."

I stopped walking, causing Ghan to stumble a little. She wheeled around, hand raised. I hardly felt it when she slapped me. My mind was whirling, calculating how far away from home I was.

I collapsed when I realized it was no more than a mile.

Ghan's hand lost its grip on my collar just as my knees hit the ground. My dress, already torn, ripped even more.

_My parents…_ I took in a shuddering breath. The world spun around me, and black dots danced in my vision.

Mom? And Dad? They were gone?

No. They weren't. Ghan was lying. Or she miscalculated. That's what happened. I laughed, relief coursing through me, and looked up toward Ghan to tell her about her mistake.

But when I looked up at her, her face was twisted in fury. She was shaking and a vein in her neck was throbbing. I laughed harder, relief about her mistake hitting me full force. How stupid could I have been to believe that Mom and Dad were dead?

This time I really felt her slap.

"STOP IT!" she screamed, tears streaming down her twisted face. "STOP LAUGHING!" I doubled over, still on my knees, and looked at the ground. My face stung where she had hit me, but I was still happy. Mom and Dad were okay.

"But, Ghan, you-"

"Don't EVER use my name!" Another slap. "You think this is FUNNY?" Slap. "You think death is FUNNY?" I glanced around and saw a couple of people watching. Yazzal was running up.

"Wait! You made a mistake… not everyone could be dead!" That would be too much. Way too much death in too short of a period. It was not possible.

"MY FATHER!" Ghan screamed. "MY FATHER WAS HERE!" Another slap. I was sure my cheek was red. Ghan leaned in closer to my face. "And you!" she spat on me. "You caused this! You killed him!" Her arm was rasing again, but Yazzal caught it as it came down.

"Ghan! Ghan, honey, stop!" Ghan looked at him, anger and pain clearly showing on her face.

"But she killed him! SHE. KILLED. HIM!" She tried to rip her hand free of Yazzal's grasp, but he twisted her around so he was holding her in a hug. She collapsed into him, her face hidden in his chest, her own chest heaving with sobs. A man came over to me and stood me up, leading me away. Ghan's sobbing drew farther and farther away, and, eventually, it was just me and the man walking through the debris with the occasional workers.

"I-" But he slapped a hand over my mouth.

"I don't want to hear it." He snapped, and we walked in silence for about a mile. Then we came onto a carriage drawn by a horserat.

He shoved my inside, and I fell to the floor. He slammed the door shut, and I heard muffled murmuring. Then a slap on the side of the carriage, and the bump of the wheels going over the rocky street.

I tried to adjust myself so I was sitting up, but the carriage was rocking so much I couldn't. So I just lay there, my head bumping on the floor, as I was lead away from the home they say I destroyed.


	5. Chapter 5

I knew I had to get out of the carriage; I knew I had to go help my parents. What if they weren't dead? What if they were alive and buried under rubble and they were slowly being crushed? I took a deep breath. Time to get out of here.

I pulled my hands apart a little, testing the strength of the belt. Wow. Ghan sure could tie a knot.

I closed my eyes and sighed. I could try firebending, but I didn't want to destroy the carriage. But my parents…

And, having decided that my parents were higher up on the What-I-Care-About-Scale than the carriage, I twisted around so my feet were almost touching my hands and so I was lying on my stomach. I opened my eyes, and stared at the underside of the seat in front of me, zoning in on a coin that must have been dropped there. I took a deep breath, and then braced myself for the pain.

The fire shot out of the bottoms of my feet very quickly. The belt- and my hands- were engulfed in flames. I screamed as the heat made my flesh sizzle. I couldn't feel if the belt had been burned away; but it felt like my hands were going to be burnt away, so I ripped my hands apart. I felt the burning belt fall onto my back. I twisted again as that burned my back, and I threw my feet downwards. There was still fire coming out, though.

Right then, I remembered my mother patting my head and saying, "I'm so glad our house it metal; you would have burned it down long ago if we had gotten the house your father wanted."

The familiar feeling I got whenever I firebent and I couldn't control it (which was every time I firebent,) settled into my stomach. I saw the wall of the carriage light up, and, as hard as it was, I closed my eyes and concentrated. Soon after, I opened them again. Why wasn't the-

Oh. Oh, no.

I had stopped firebending. But the carriage was lit on fire… I heard the man driving the carriage screaming for help. I stood up, wincing as my hands made contact with the floor. Looking around and seeing that the entire carriage around me was on fire, I took a deep breath and leapt through the hole in the wall, which, of course, was also filled with fire.

I hit the dirt outside and rolled around, trying to put out the flames that had caught my hair and clothes. I could feel my skin heating up, and my lower face hurt so much. But I finally got the flames out.

I lay there for a second, breathing hard. But then I felt someone grasp my arm, and I was yanked to my feet. The carriage driver grabbed my other arm, and was began to pull me away from the flaming vehicle. We were on a road that was cut through a forest, and trees surrounded us on both sides. I tore my gaze from the flames and looked at the driver. He was shouting at me, but I couldn't make out the words over the crackle of the fire. He turned back toward the carriage and lifted his arms. The ground under the flaming thing shook and shuddered, and finally swallowed the carriage. I heard the 'sehh' as the fire went out. Some of the remaining smoke disappeared into the air, and the driver whirled around to face me.

He looked very disheveled, and he needed to shave. His hair was stringy and brown- although I wouldn't be surprised if it was brown just because it was caked in dirt. "What have you done! Why did you try to escape like that!" He stormed toward me and I took a step back. "Why? Why did you do this? You could have killed me!" He stopped suddenly and raised his hands. I knew what was about to happen. I jumped to the side just as walls of solid rock rose and trapped the air in the space of where I had just been. He swore and tried the same move again. I dodged again, but he was able to trip me with some of the rock. I flew down and cried out as my burned hands hit the ground. I scrambled up and looked back at the man, who was about to bend again. I jumped backwards, and, before he could adjust his stance, turned and ran toward the tree line. He ran to the edge of the road just as I disappeared into the trees.

"We'll find you! We'll find you, and you will pay for all the people you slaughtered!"

Breathing heavily, I ran faster into the woods.


	6. Chapter 6

It didn't take me long to realize that I wasn't being followed. I stopped, almost crashing into a tree, and bent down. Usually, I grasped me knees and breathed heavily for a while, but as soon as I touched my knees I cried out. Looking at my hands, I cringed. I had gotten burned a lot, mostly from my bending, but also from the stove, and I had never seen a burn this bad. My hands were red, and there was some white on them. The burn went up my arm to about my elbow, though a little higher on my right hand. Figured. Thankful I wasn't the queasy type of person, I looked at the rest of my body. Though I couldn't see my back, I began to notice that whenever I turned there was an uncomfortable pulling and slight pain. I suspected it had been burned to. My face felt fine, and, though my hair was an inch shorter, so did my neck and scalp. My legs were fine, too, except for a small burn on my left calf.

Through with my examination, I looked around. I recognized where I was, thank goodness. It was only about a ten minute walk to my house. I bit my lip, and began to run.

Running took about five minutes, and soon I was at the edge of the forest, house in sight. After looking around and seeing no one, (I guess they were busy with the other side of the town,) I took a deep breath and ran over to where the porch should have been. Like all the other houses around it was destroyed. A tear fell out of my eye and my heart beat faster, but I still had hope.

Ignoring the pain, I began to throw metal boards aside. It wasn't long before I saw some clothes. They looked like my father's.

I moved a shingle and a shutter, and stifled a scream. My father lay there, eyes wide open. His mouth was open, too, as though he were screaming. His clothes were torn and he had so many cuts… I fell to my knees and grabbed his hand.

"Dad?" No answer. Of course there was no answer. "Daddy?"

Tears fell freely from my eyes now, and I swallowed a scream. I clutched his hand harder, and felt his wedding ring dig into my palm. I wept next to him, and then a thought struck me. What about Mom?

I began to search for her, too.

An hour of shoving aside rubble and metal later, I found her. She was on her stomach, eyes open. The irises had no light in them. In her hand she held the little metal dragon she was working on. This time, I did scream.

"Mom! Mom! Mommy! Wake up, wake up!" I shook her, but deep down I knew she wasn't going to wake up. "Mom… please…" I threw myself down next to her, and, ignoring the fact that she was dead, hugged her as hard as I could.

It was when the sun was setting I heard voices. I was sitting next to Mom, and I knew I needed to get away.

"I love you, Mommy." I whispered. I hugged her again, and then I took a step away, but then came back. Removing the dragon from her hand and her wedding ring from her finger, I stumbled toward Dad.

"I love you, too, Daddy." I hugged him, trying not to notice that he was cold, and took his wedding ring, too.

Then, seeing light penetrate the darkness, I again ran toward the tree line.

I didn't know how long I ran. I only stopped running when I couldn't see any light anymore. The life I knew was long gone; everything and everyone I had loved was either destroyed or dead. Mom and Dad… were… I chocked on a sob, not able to think about it. Then, for the first time, I thought about Tage. I assumed he could never have survived. He was only fifty feet away. He would have been killed instantly. But he wasn't important right now.

I fell to the ground, curled into a ball, and screamed for my parents.


	7. Chapter 7

I woke up to some light that had managed to filter through the dense foliage. Sitting up and wincing as my hands made contact with the ground, I looked around. I had no idea where I was. This didn't bother me as much as it would have on any other occasion.

On my left was the metal dragon I had grabbed from my mom's hand. Its tail held the two wedding rings that my parents had worn for twenty one years. My throat tightened, but no tears slid out. I lay back down, rolling to my back. Staring up at the little ray that had managed to make its way through the trees, I began to think aloud.

"Okay. Everyone I love is… gone." I choked a bit more, but I still didn't cry. "I have no place to go." My mother's side of the family had moved to another part of the world; a part I wasn't even sure I could remember if I had tried, and my father had lost his family when a tree was blown onto his house as a child. "Apparently I'm the Avatar. I can't really bend my own element." I looked at my hands for emphisis on this note. "And I'm wanted for the destruction of my town." I sighed and rolled to my side. "I have no food or water and I'm lost in the woods." I took a deep, shaky breath. "I am in trouble." I lay on the ground for a few more minutes, but then I sat up- again wincing because of my hands, (I really needed to remember they were burned…) and looked around. I closed my eyes, spun around a few times, and, when I opened them, I began to walk in that direction.

I walked for three days. On the third day I just collapsed. My mouth was so dry, my stomach was cramping, and my muscles were screaming in pain. My hands and back looked infected, and both throbbed with every heartbeat. I closed my eyes, promising myself I would rest for just a minute.

I don't know how long I slept, but I woke up to a voice. The voice was rising and falling, and it sounded high-pitched, which led me to believe it was a girl. I sat up, remembering, for once, not to use my hands. I crawled (using my hands) over to a nearby bush, and rolled inside. Tears streamed down my face, but I didn't cry out. The voice was getting louder and louder, and it seemed she was singing.

_When I was old enough_

_I was told_

_To never ever ever go_

_Out alone_

I could see movement through the trees.

_I didn't listen,_

_And out I went_

She broke out of the tree across from the bush, and sat down, placing a basket next to her.

_And the next day_

_I was found dead!_

I raised my eyebrows. What kind of song was this? The girl's back was to me, and I shifted to try to see her better. She stopped singing.

"Well? Are you going to come out?" I stopped shifting and held still. My left hand was on the ground and pain made its way up my arm.

"Come on. I don't bite." She turned around, and looked straight into my bush. Her eyes were a deep brown, and she hair very slight features. Her hair, long and brown, fell to the ground and had a few leaves stuck in it. Her mouth, fortunately, was turned up into a smile.

I bit my lip, wondering what I should do. I guess the lack of food and water had impaired my judgement, because I crawled out of the bush.

"Hi," she said, and stood up. I stood up quickly. "What's your name?"

I licked my lips and said, "Rea." While mentally slapping myself for giving her my true name, she extended her hand.

"I'm Aetia," she said, pulling her hand back when I didn't offer mine. "You look like you've died." I cringed, sure that she was right. My robes were torn, I hadn't washed in three days, and my hair was out of its usual bun. "Do you want to join me?" She gestured toward her basket, and, smelling food for the first time, I nodded. She sat back down, and I did the same.

I watched as she moved the basket in front of her and began to pull out food. I had never seen this type of food before. For the first time, I noticed that her clothes were a light green.

"Are you an earthbender?" I blurted, and then mentally slapped myself again. This was why I had very few friends.

She nodded. "Yep. I'm almost a master, in fact." Handing me a plate filled with some type of noodle, she went on. "I'm almost nineteen… I've been practicing since I was five. I'm the only earthbender in my family. My sister hates me for it." She smiled and passed over a cup that had some type of juice in it. I chugged it down, enjoying the feeling of having it wet my dry throat. "I take it you're a firebender?" I nodded. "I thought so. You're all burned… a lot of my firebending friends get burned; especially those with younger siblings." She inspected my hands. "But not that badly. What happened?" I choked a little on the juice.

"Uh… I was, um, practicing with my brother and he couldn't, er, he wasn't able to do a specific move, and I was showing him how. And then he- he tried and I was too close." I stopped talking and shoved some noodles into my mouth. She tilted her head and began to stare at me. I looked at the trees. And swallowed my noodles.

"Mm-hmm. And what's your brother's name?"

"It's… Lee." She nodded and pulled out a mango. Biting into it, she continued to stare at me.

Again, I looked at the trees around us.

"Okay. So, anyways, why are you in the woods? Usually I'm the only one who goes in them, and I am definitely the only one in my village who goes this far. And why do you look like you've been out here for a month?"

I squirmed under her gaze, her questions becoming too frequent for my liking. "I was with my… camp group, and I got lost?" I cursed myself silently for making it sound like a question. "That was about three days ago…" I drifted off at her stare.

"You don't have to lie to me, you know." She said. And, for some strange reason, I felt like I had betrayed a close friend. I sighed; sure I was making a huge mistake. But I couldn't stop myself.

"Okay. Um. I'm not- like, I swear it was an accident," I said, my throat closing up. "I swear. But, I was attacked, and-" I broke off. "And I guess I panicked… I guess I went into the Avatar State- But I didn't even know I was the Avatar! No one did! I can't even bend my own element- and- and my town-" A sob forced its way out and I stopped talking. I didn't look at her, instead, I looked at the grass below me.

I shifted, ready to jump up and run if she tried to grab me.

"It was an accident?" She asked. I nodded as hard as I could.

"Yes. I didn't even know I was the Avatar-"

"I know." She sighed and set down her bowl. "Okay. You wait here. I'll be back in about three hours." And, before I could say anything, she stood up and ran into the trees, leaving me all alone.

At least I had the picnic basket.


	8. Chapter 8

I waited for what seemed like forever. Three hours was a long time. I tried not to eat more than what was on my plate when Aetia had left, but I just kept taking a little bit more, and, well...

Aetia returned just as I finished the last noodle. I jumped up, plate falling to the ground, when I realized that it was really the last noodle. Everything in the basket was gone.

"Oh! I- I didn't mean too… I just ate… I was really hungry- I can pay you back-" I shut my mouth when I realized I was babbling. Aetia waved her hand. "Oh, it's fine." She said, and I breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed a bit.

But when someone stepped out of the woods behind Aetia I tensed right back up.

"Who's that?" I pointed to the boy- who was really, really good-looking- and took a step back. Good-looking or not, he could be here to help Aetia take me to the police. Although, I don't think I would mind him being close to me, what with his deep brown eyes and curly hair, and the muscles on his arms… I snapped myself out of it.

_What are you thinking?_ I cursed myself and took another step back. And ran into someone. I screamed and jumped forward, windmilling my arms and twisting to keep from falling into the cute boy. (I have to say, I regretted it a bit,). I took another step back, watching the third person laugh. She had a very pretty laugh, lighter and more cheerful than anyone else's laugh I knew of. She bent over sideways, holding her stomach. I glared at her. Aetia smiled a little.

"Tula, stop!" The girl- Tula- stood up, still smiling. I stopped glaring at her, and took yet another step back. Aetia looked at me.

"It's okay! We're not going to turn you in!" I didn't relax. She turned toward Tula. "This is Tula. She's visiting from the Air Temples. She's been here about two years now, and is a master airbender." That explained why I hadn't heard her come up behind me. Aetia then turned toward the cute boy. "And this is Ritu. He's a waterbender, also a master." Ritu smiled at me. Crap. He had dimples. Could he look any more perfect? "I couldn't find Saza- she's a firbending master- but she'll be here tomorrow." A small smile hit my face, as I began to suspect what was happening. It grew when Aetia confermed my thoughts.

"We're going to help you master the elements!"

Tula looked at me. Her blonde hair barley hid her tattoos. I'm not sure how I didn't notice them earlier. She was thin and short, and her blue eyes sparkeled. "We're not going to be able to teach you them in the correct order, because I have to go back to the Temples soon, and Aetia is joining me. So you'll have to learn air and earth before water and fire. I know they're opposites, and it'll probably be strange learning them first as opposed to your native element, but that'll have to do." She smiled at me. "Sorry!"

Aetia nodded. "I brought Ritu here to heal your hands. He's not an expert healer, but he can heal most of the burned skin." I looked at my hands, and hid a smile. Mister Perfect was going to be holding my hands!

Ritu walked over, and, pulling out a small pouch, covered his hands in water. When the water started to glow, he reached out and gently took my left hand. A wave of excitement rolled through me, followed by a wave of relief as the pain- which I hadn't noticed had gotten so bad- went away. He did the same to my right hand. Aeita came over and told Ritu to close his eyes, and, like a gentleman, he also turned around. She took off my shirt and I cringed, the skin sticking to the fabric with blood, (I had forgotten about all the holes. I blushed as I thought about how I must look to Ritu,) and put on a green one, but this one had the entire backside cut out, so that only three strings held it together. It felt so good. Even better when Ritu healed it.

I turned toward him, and he smiled at me (yay!). I looked at my hands, which looked strange, as though they had wrinkled up. They were red, too. "I'll come back later to try to heal the rest, but it looks like you're going to have some scars… sorry." He winced. I smiled at him.

"That's fine!" I said, patting myself on the back for not letting my voice squeak. He patted my shoulder, sending a shiver down my spine. He them went over to Aetia and helped her gather up the plates.

Aetia grabbed the basket, and Ritu and Tula began to walk toward the woods. Aetia walked toward me and hugged me, suprising me for a second. I hugged back and she pulled away.

"Tula and I will be back tomorrow. I'll bring Saza, too, so you can meet her. I'm not sure how we're going to teach you the opposite elements at the same time, but we'll try." She smiled at me. "I'm going to bring back a blanket, so you won't be cold. Tonight I'll try to find a way for you to be able to sneak in to my room, so you won't have to spend more than a day sleeping in the forest." She turned and ran to catch up with Tula and Ritu.

"Thanks!" I called after them. Ritu waved over his shoulder, and Tula turned and waved both hands over her head. Aeita smiled at me, and, before I knew it, they were gone.

That night, warm with the blanket that Aetia had brought me and the thought of friends, I fell asleep quickly.

The thoughts about Ritu helped, too.


	9. Chapter 9

My mom, dad, and I were sitting on our roof, watching the sunset. Not talking, just watching the sunset. I leaned in closer to my mom, and looked at her face. It was light and happy, full of laughter. Glancing over at Dad, I saw his face was the same. I smiled and looked back at the sun, happy and warm and loved and-

"Hey! Hey!"

I looked over at Mom. "Mom," I said, "I'm right here. You don't need to shout!"

She turned to me, mouth wide. "Rae!"

"Mom?"

She grabbed me and started to shake me. "Rae!"

I woke up with a jolt. Tula was shaking me. "Ra- Oh. You're awake." She giggled and jumped back, gliding to the ground. "Are you ready? We thought we'd give you half a day of each element to start… Aetia will come by with Saza later." I nodded and stood up, stretching. I help back a yawn, and Tula disappeared behind a tree. She came back moments later, holding a little toy. It was a small block, shaped like a pyramid in the air temples, (I almost bought the same one last time my family went to the fire nation festival- a whole week of fun and games for any nation!)

"Here," she said. "Catch." I held out my hands, but she threw it up above her. As it fell past her middle, she waved her hands, sending a burst of air at the toy. It sped toward my face, and I barley had any time to duck out of the way. It flew past me and buried itself into a tree. I whirled around. "What was that for?!" I screeched, and walked toward Tula. She laughed and jumped onto a tree branch.

"You gotta learn how to avoid. That and meditation is what I'm going to spend a lot of time teaching you."

I threw a rock at her. She twirled away- still on the branch- and laughed.

For the next hour or so, I dodged rock and branches and Tulas. She admitted she was pretty impressed with me, and that made me smile. We went onto meditating, and the time passed quickly. It was so easy for me to sit and relax and not think, just listen. Tula stopped before I did, and I was almost sorry to stop.

…

Two hours later, Tula was staring open-mouthed at me. "Okay. Do it again." I held in a grin and thrust my hand forward. The trees in front of my swayed, (I don't mean to brag, but one of them almost bent over double,). Tula's mouth dropped open even more, and a smile split my face.

"Wow…" she stared at me. "Wow." I jumped up a little, excitement growing in me. "You're a natural!" I took a deep, shaky breath as my excitement grew. I was a natural! Me!

"I think your true element is air!" Tula screamed, and leapt toward me, pulling me into a suffocating hug. She let go and ran back toward a tree, and told me to sit.

"Okay. So you're a prodigy! Wow! I want to try something…" she muttered, and sat down herself. I wasn't able to do the lotus position like her, but I was pretty close.

"So here's what you're gonna do. Stand up and jump as high as you can, and kind of push yourself up while in the air, like this…" she stood up and jumped, and, while in the air, thrust her arms down. She flew up about ten feet and then floated to the ground. "Your turn!"

I took a breath and stood up. Jumping as high as I could, I imitated her. And watched in disbelief as I flew above the ground. "Woah!" I screamed, and then forgot all about the falling part.

It took only seconds to fall, but man did it hurt. I crashed to the ground, the wind knocked out of me. Tula waited for me to stand up, and then told me to climb a tree. "You're going to jump from that. While falling, put your arms out, like this…" she put her arms out, loosely. "And then point your toes. You should fall to the ground gently."

The rest of our time together was spent jumping out of trees. It was so much fun floating gently to the ground! Aetia walked in with another girl just as I had gotten to the top of the tree, and I leapt down to meet her. I'll admit, showing off a bit.

She grinned at me, and then turned toward the girl. She had short, brown hair and gray eyes, and her lean frame hinted at muscles. "This is Saza. Saza, this is Rae." Saza's eyes went wide. I took a step toward her. She looked like she might pass out or something.

"Are you okay?" I reached out a hand, but then pulled back, unsure of what to do. She nodded, and grabbed the hand that had been reaching for her.

"Yes!" she cried, breathing becoming a bit more normal. "It's just… I'm meeting the _Avatar!_" She screeched, and I blushed a little. Aetia laughed.

"Saza's our group nerd. She's always reading books, mostly about the Avatar. She's dreamed about meeting the Avatar since second grade, ever since she really grasped what the Avatar could do."

Saza closed her eyes and took a deep breath, still holding onto my hand. She opened her eyes and let go. "Sorry… just the thought that I get to teach the _Avatar!_" She dropped my hand and took another breath.

"Sorry." I smiled at her, still a little uncomfortable. "That's okay."

She took a step back and looked at Tula. "So, Aetia told me you're teaching her airbending?" Tula nodded, and walked over toward us. "And then Aetia's going to teach earthbending at the same time-" Aetia nodded. "And then I'm going to teach her firebending and Ritu's going to teach her earthbending?" Nods from both Tula and Aetia.

"But we have to teach her quickly," Aetia said. "She has to do something about all the… um… deaths she caused."

The breath caught in my throat and I looked down. Saza let out a breath, and looked at me. "What happened?" I looked up at the sky and rolled my shoulders.

"I, uh, I accidentally went into the Avatar State… I didn't know and… and an entire town was wiped out…" I drifted off; my throat tightening and feeling tears prick at my eyes.

Saza put a hand on my shoulder. "You know," she said after a minute of silence, "Avatar Yaru- an earthbender- did the same thing? He destroyed almost half of a city of waterbenders when he went to the Northern Watertribe and a man attacked his family." I looked at her. She smiled. "So did Avatar Hartunga- a waterbender. So you see? It happens every once in a while. You just don't hear about it much because people don't want to talk about what the Avatar does that's bad… they want to talk about what they do that's good."

I smiled at her, tears no longer threatening but throat still tight.

"Thanks," I said. Aetia cleared her throat.

"Well, maybe we should start some earthbending?" I nodded, and Tula and Saza turned to leave.

"See you soon," I called after them, and then turned to start my earthbending.


	10. Chapter 10

The first day of earthbending didn't go as well as I had hoped.

"Come on!" Aetia shouted at me. "Just hit the stupid rock!" She was referring to the boulder she had made. The boulder that was in front of me. The boulder that was twice as high and probably a hundred times as heavy. The boulder that would break my hand.

"No!" I said, and took a step back, breaking my horse stance. "I don't want to break my hand…"

Aetia stared at me. "Seriously?" She asked me, and put her hands on her hips."You- the Avatar- won't hit a rock because you're afraid it'll break your hand?"

I nodded. She sighed. "Listen. You won't break your hand! It won't even hurt!"

I bit my lip and took the horse stance again. Aetia smiled and walked behind me. "Okay. Now thrust out your fist and punch this rock!"

I counted down, and then thrust out my hand. And stopped right before it hit the rock. "Are you sure I won't break my hand?" I asked, not looking at Aetia. I heard her sigh.

"Yes. Even if you hit the rock and it doesn't move- which it will, because you're THE AVATAR- the most that'll happen is a bruised hand." She said. "Now punch the rock!"

I took a deep breath- prolonging it as long as I could- and punched will all my might.

That's how I broke my hand.

…

"It- it's not broken…" Aetia drifted off, and I smiled at her. I'll admit, a little smugly.

"Yes, it is." I said. "You can see the break!"

A second ago I had been screaming in pain, but now that it had subsided I wasn't screaming. Don't get me wrong, it still hurt, but not nearly as much as the first thirty seconds.

"It can't be broken! We have to train! How is this supposed-" She broke off. "Ritu! I'll get Ritu!"

Before I could say something, she ran out of the clearing. Thank goodness she didn't turn back, or she would have seen a specific finger sticking up at her.

"Told you my hand would break," I muttered, and then sat down to meditate.

...

Aetia returned quickly, breaking my concentration, with Ritu in tow. He smiled at me, water already in the air.

"Let's see it." I just stared at him. Oh my goodness was he good-looking.

"Rea?"

"Oh! Sorry… sorry…" I held out my hand, and he took it. His touch was so gentle!

The water began to glow, and he put it over my hand. I heard a crack, and then a pop, and the pain was gone.

"There you go!" he said, and smiled even wider. "Can I see your other hand?"

I nodded and handed it to him. "Sorry I haven't done this sooner," he said. "I know I told you I'd be back to heal them, but I wasn't able to make it yesterday." When he was done, he walked around and worked on my back. I looked at my hands. One was redder than the other, which was a faint pink.

"Oh! Yay!" I said. Scars were cool, but I didn't want them both scarred.

Ritu stepped in front of me, and I stood up.

"I talked to Aetia about it," he said. "I think that we should teach you to heal. Especially with firebending coming up." I nodded, head bobbing up and down faster than necessary.

"Okay!" I said, and my stomach did a weird flippy thing. More time with Ritu, yes! He turned toward Aetia. "Maybe we should stop earthbending for the day," he said, "and try healing." Aetia nodded and looked at me. I was shocked to see tears in her eyes.

"I'm- I'm really sorry… I didn't think that-" she broke off in a sob. "I thought that the Avatar could bend easily… I didn't even- I didn't even try to prepare you-" she choked out, and more tears fell down her face.

"Oh! No, no- don't be sorry…" I wasn't too sure how to handle this. "It wasn't your fault… I just can't bend! It's my fault…" Aetia took a deep shaky breath.

"No. It's my fault…"she drifted off. "I'll see you tomorrow…" she turned and walked into the trees. I was about to follow her, but Ritu grabbed my shoulder (making it very, very warm,).

"Just let her calm down. She gets like this every once in a while. It'll take an hour or two, but she'll calm down and realize it wasn't her fault."

"Okay…" I wasn't too sure and I wanted to follow her, even though I knew once I caught up with her I'd have no idea how to deal with her. "So, healing?"

Ritu nodded and took some water into his hands. "This is pretty advanced bending, and most don't- or can't- learn it until they're masters. But we're going to try to teach you sooner. Maybe some old Avatar powers will allow you to learn it quickly." He smiled, again. My heart beat faster, again.

"Let's try it." I said.

He looked at the water above his palm. "Healing is all about the energy in the water." The water above his hand started to glow. "You gotta tell it- that sounds weird but it's how it works- that it is…" he broke off. "Hmm. You have to-" He stood there a minute. "Okay. You have to tell it that it has something to heal. All water can heal- some waters better than others- and the water wants to heal. Does that sound right?" I nodded, even though it didn't.

"Water and fire are the two elements that live and breathe," he said. "It sounds weird, and you probably never felt it in fire because it was always out of control. But it's true." I nodded, still not believing him.

"Here. Try it." He flicked his wrist, and the water flew at me. And then it stopped. I grinned as it hovered before me, and I twisted my palm around. It was above my palm! And then I felt… something I can't describe. It was alive… it was moving around, swirling inside the little sphere it was trapped within.

"Can you feel it?" Ritu asked, and looked at the water. "How it moves on its own, but still in your control. Fire does the same thing. You can control it, but you can't stop it from moving in its self."

"How do you know it works with fire?" I asked, still holding the water and feeling it move.

"Saza told me," he said. "When I was trying to explain it to my brother, she said fire was the same."

"Oh," I said. "So, are you two…" I drifted off, and he laughed.

"No. Saza is not my girlfriend. I don't have one." He said, and took the water from me as my heart swelled. There was hope! Then I shook my head. What was wrong with me? I mean, really. I was acting like those girls in those books- you know what I'm talking about.

"So take some of the water," he said. I tried but couldn't. He gave some to me, and I was able to take that.

"Now do what I explained to you eairler."

"What was th- oh! Nevermind, I got it." I stared at the water, telling it it had to heal, it had to help-

And it glowed!

"Yes!" I shouted, and the water dimmed back down. Ritu grinned at me. "Nice!" He said. "Okay. Now try healing." He bent down and grabbed a stick, and with one swipe he cut into his skin. Blood welled, and then began to drip. It was deep. I grimaced.

"Okay." I walked closer to him and told the water to heal. It began to glow, and I held it over his palm. It felt strange, like a tugging, and after a second I took my hand away. There was no cut, and barely and trace of blood.

He stared at his palm.

"Well, that went fast. Very fast."

He smiled at me, and I grinned. Looks like I was talented with water, too. Not to brag or anything.

After Ritu left, I thought of a way to make Aetia feel better. All night I practiced, and finally I was moving thing back and forth and up and down.

The next morning when Aeita came, she walked in slowly and looked at the ground.

"Rea, I'm really sorr-"

"Oh, be quiet and come help me!" I called. "I need to learn more than one move!"

She looked up, and at first looked shocked. But then her face split into a huge smile as she saw a boulder hovering above my head.

Okay, not a boulder. But a pretty big rock.


	11. Chapter 11

My training went on for two weeks with no crazy major injuries or setbacks. I did stub my toe pretty badly, though. Stupid rocks.

Then came the day Aetia and Tula left. After a lot of hugging on Tula's part, and a quick but firm hug on Aetia's part, they left.

And so I began fire and water.

Fire came first.

"Okay." Saza said. "We're gonna start slow. I mean, first year slow." I sighed. She frowned. "That's where all the control comes from. And that is what you need." She looked pointedly at my scarred hands. I sighed again.

"Fine."

And so we started.

"Since Tula told me your really good at meditation, and since we don't have a lot of time today, I'm going to skip the breathing exercises. I want to try out with the first moved I learned: the candle!" She laughed, and then went stick-straight, her hands pointed upwards above her head. A small flame grew from her fingertips, and steadily increased in size. Saza's face was shadowed, even though it was bright out. Her hair was blowing a bit, the heat making some swirly patterns in the air around her.

She looked unbelievably cool.

She thrust her hands apart, and the fire went out. Looking at me, she gestured for me to imitate her.

I did. Taking a deep breath, (and then three more,) I made a small flame. It grew bigger, just like Saza's. Wow. Wow. It was under control! Five seconds… six…seven…eight…nin-

"Ow! Ow, ow, ow!" I yelled, ripping my hands apart, lest they sear together. "Ow-ow-ow!"

I doubled over and gingerly kept them against my stomach. Saza ran over, gasping.

"I am so sorry! I am so, so sorry! I-"

"Saza," I gasped. "It's my fault. Really." I straightened up- slowly.

"Do you want me to get some water?" she asked, her voice high-pitched.

I nodded. She darted off to the small basket and rooted around, finally withdrawing a pouch. "Here it is!" she shouted, and charged over to me. If my hands weren't throbbing, I'd laugh.

She unscrewed the cap and I lifted some water out, cringing at how I had to move my hands. On the bright side, once the water surrounded them- even without the healing thing happening yet- they felt ten times better.

Saza watched as the water began to glow, and a small smile broke out on her face. "Good thing Ritu was able to teach you that," she said.

I laughed. "Good thing I was able to learn it," I said. I took the water away and let it fall to the ground. I don't care if there wouldn't be any burned skin in it; I wasn't going to put it back in the pouch to be drunk.

Saza sighed and tossed the empty container back towards the basket. "I really am sorry. Maybe we should try breathing first…" she muttered.

I nodded. "I don't get it, though. Why can't I bend fire? I mean, for Pete's sake, look at how air and water are! I nailed air, and I can heal! Which is advanced water! Earth took some time, but I'm getting that, even!" I fell back to the ground, crossing my legs. "Stupid fire," I mumbled.

Saza sat next to me. "Maybe it's a chi thing?"

I looked at her. "What?"

"Maybe it's a chi thing," she said, and stood up. "I mean, what if there's some chi tangled up in you somewhere?"

I began to smile. "That'd be nice," I said, "but I doubt it. I think it's just me."

She pursed her lips and began to pace. "I don't think it's you," she said.

"I'll bet it is." I sighed. "Is there anything that you do? Like, any secret thing that you think I know already because I have the basics down?"

She bit her lip and looked up at the sky. "Umm… do you know about drawing breath from your stomach?"

I nodded.

"Feeling the chi move through you?"

I nodded.

"Are you angry?"

"You have to be angry?"

"No. I'm just spewing. Sorry. Do you imagine controlling it?"

"No," I said. "I imagine it getting away from me."

She spun to face me. "Well, that's it!" she cried.

"Saza."

"Yeah?"

"I was being sarcastic. Of course I imagine controlling it. It just…" I spread my hands. "Doesn't work."

She glared, then went back to pacing.

"Um, do you-" She froze. "Oh. My. Gosh."

"What?"

"Shh. I'm thinking."

"About?"

"Shh!"

She was silent for a minute or two. Then: "Hey, Rea, do you think…" she was silent for a second. "Do you think it _could _be chi… but not tangled up, just too much? And, because your natural element is fire, it just supplies too much energy to it?"

I was silent, but I scrunched up my face.

"Really. Do you think?"

"I'm not sure that's even possible," I said.

"Well, it is." She said. "I've done a lot of reading of chi. It is." She crossed her arms. "It's possible for a person to have an oversupply of chi... It's rare, but possible. So maybe you do? And, like I said, with your natural element being fire…" she drifted off and raised her eyebrows.

"Well, maybe," I said slowly, "But still. What are the odds?"

She groaned. "It doesn't matter what the odds are if it's possible!" she shouted. "Here, I'll leave for today, and tomorrow I'll bring my books. We can see what's going on." I nodded and she turned and darted away.

"You forgot the basket!" I called, but she didn't respond. I took a breath and laid back. It really would be nice if this was a chi problem.


	12. Chapter 12

Ritu came about an hour after Saza left. I was in a tree when he walked into the clearing, about to jump out, like Tula had taught me. I had this skill down, but it was too fun to not do it, so whenever I could I did.

"Hey! Rea!" he called. "Rea!"

I won't lie and say that it didn't cross my mind to give him a scare. But, because I am a terribly nice person, I didn't.

"Ritu!" I shouted, and jumped out of the tree. "Hi."

He grinned at me. "Showing off?" He really did have a nice smile.

"What, that? Psh. Child's play. _This _is showing off!" I took the horse stance and thrust my hands downwards, twisting my body in a semi-circle.

He let out a scream as the ground below him dropped away.

I swear I didn't mean to keep him down there for so long. But _that scream_…

He was down there for about ten minutes before I was able to stop laughing and control myself enough so that I could get him out.

"That-" I gasped out between fits, "That was the- the highest-pitch scream- e-ever,"

He glared at me, but broke out into laughter not long after.

Finally I managed to stop and compose myself, the thought of his scream no longer causing me to break down.

"So," he said, watching as I wiped away tears, "Let's begin."

"'Kay," I said. "Are we going to the stream?"

He nodded and began to walk. I followed behind, allowing myself a second to admire his shoulders. Then I felt creepy and looked away.

We walked in silence for about five minutes, listening to the birds and the wind.

"Did you have any siblings?" he asked suddenly, and I may have jumped. Just a little.

Just before I was about to reply he gasped. "Wait! No, I didn't mean- about the town… I was just trying-"

I cut him off. "No, it's fine. Um, no. I didn't. I always wanted one, though." He was beet red, and we were silent another minute.

Then he sighed and looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "Clichéd single child. Figures."

I snorted. "Clichéd non-single kid. Figures."

He grinned.

"So how many siblings do you have?" I asked.

"Seven," he said. My mouth dropped. "I'm one of six benders, four of whom are earth. The rest of us are water."

"_Seven_?"

"Yup."

"Woah."

He laughed. "Woah, indeed. Ah, here we are!"

He stepped around a tree, and for the first time I heard the babble of the stream. I followed, and was completely shocked at the size of the river. At least fifty feet across and stretching as far as I could see, (which, granted, wasn't that far due to the curve that it had about thirty feet to the left and ninety to the right,).

"Woah."

"Woah, indeed."

I glared at him. "Why didn't I see this before?"

"I'm not sure."

"This could have helped so much with showers." I had been using bottles of water that Saza had brought… one once a day, just to wash off the grime. Barely enough to do that, even.

He smiled. "I can always go away if you want ten minutes to yourself."

Before I realized I was nodding he was walking away. I waited a minute, then took off and jumped into the river, (which, thankfully, was deep because I would have slammed into the bottom if it wasn't,) super happy that the water was mildly warm.

I stayed under and spazed out, trying to get the water all around me, before frantically running my hands over my legs and arms and face and through my hair.

Bursting through the surface to get a gulp of air, I realized how nice it felt to be semi-clean.

I went under again and repeated my routine, the thought of all the sweat and dirt and grime coming off of me making me extremely happy.

I surfaced again and took a deep breath before going under once more. Finally, I swam/walked towards the shore, my clothes and hair dripping wet. I really hope they'll be dry soon. I sloshed onto land, pulling my hair off my face, listening as water slashed onto the ground.

"Ritu!" I called. "You can come back!"

It took him thirty seconds to appear.

"Well, you look a lot better."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Shut up."

He smiled and walked to the edge of the steam.

"So, you've been able to heal; but we're still gonna start at the beginning…"

…

We had practiced for hours- it was somewhat like airbending. The motions, at least. I was able to lift water and form it into a sphere, (once I learned this I did it to my clothes. It was really, really nice.) I also managed to form ice once or twice, and Ritu showed me how to make steam, but I wasn't as good at that.

That night I lay down in my usual spot, (Aetia had never gotten back to me on if I could sleep in her house or not, and I didn't want to bother her any more than I was, so I was still outside,) and attempted to sleep.

I tossed and turned for what felt like hours- but was probably only thirty minutes- before I gave up on sleeping. I always hated when I didn't get to sleep right away… most nights, it gave me time to think about Mom and Dad.

And that was not a good thing.

But, since the heart just loves ripping itself into smaller and smaller pieces, I went over to where I had put the dragon and rings and unburied them; the rings glowed softly in the moonlight, the dragon's open mouth catching some of the light.

I played around with them until I got tired, and then I went to sleep.

**A/N: Okay. I know that there is no excuse. But I'd like to say that I am so, so sorry for leaving the story this long. I won't do that again… I swear. I'm so sorry!**


	13. Chapter 13

I woke up really early, my mouth dry and foul-tasting, my hair tangled around my face. I lay there for a minute before sitting up suddenly, a nervous twitch in my stomach, a pang that was there for a reason unknown to me. I sat, unmoving for a minute, before I sighed and shoved my hair off my face, listening to the woods around me. It was too early for the birds, even, and I cursed myself for not rolling over and waking myself up as much as I had.

I stood up, stretching, listening to my bones crack. Then I heard a crunch. Not a bone crunch, but a someone-stepping-on-a-twig crunch. My insides froze. I tried to scan the area without letting it be known that I was looking. I was just about to whirl around when a small rabbit jumped out in front of me. I let out a small (well, maybe a loud,) screech, my heart skipping a beat. The rabbit twitched its ears and then jumped away, bounding across my clearing in a few hops. I barked out a laugh and then began to walk towards the creek that Ritu had shown me, wanting to get a better wash than I had gotten yesterday.

…

It was after my bath (which, by the way, was extremely cold and awful,) that the birds woke up and Saza came. She walked into the clearing just as I did, raising her eyebrows at my dripping hair.

"Isn't it a little cold-"

"Yes. Yes it is," I said. She laughed.

"I'll bring you a towel next time," she said. I smiled as she sat down, crossing her legs for a second before grimacing and uncrossing them, opting for a knees-to-chest sitting position. I mirrored her, biting my lip when she let out a huge sigh.

"What's wrong?"

She looked up at the tree canopy above us. "Well, for starters, my dad ate the last of the rice cakes," she said, "But, more importantly, I can't think of anything that would make your firebending as awfu- as, um, hard- as it is. I read all my books, as well as my mother's, about chi, and I got nothing. So I tried other things. I looked up teas, herbs, lotions, the like. None of that is proven to help-"

"Well, what-"

"Shh. I'm talking." She widened her eyes at me. "Never interrupt your teacher." I laughed as she went on. "So, I think what it's going to be is just… practice," she finished weakly. "Lots and lots of practice."

I scowled. "But I have been practicing! I've been practicing for so long… ever since I was five!"

Her shoulders drooped. "I know!" she cried. "Or, at least, I figured. But I cannot think of a single thing that would-" she broke off suddenly.

"What?" I asked after she was silent for a minute.

"We-e-ell," she said slowly, "I was thinking… hold on… um…"

I waited as patiently as I could, drumming my fingers on my shin, trying not to rush her. It was incredibly hard.

"What if it's- well, where do you get your fire from?"

I blinked. "What?"

"Where do you get your fire from?" she repeated. I opened and closed my mouth.

"Um… the air?"

She let out a laugh, startling me. "That's it!" she cried. "I bet that's it!"

"What? Why? Where do _you_ get it from?"

"Me! You get it from inside of yourself! The only element that does, apparently." She jumped to her feet. "You don't draw fire from the air, you draw it from _inside _of you."

"That sounds impossible."

"It's true, though!" Her face flushed and her eyes lit up. "I mean, you have to bring it from the inside! It's incredibly hard to draw it from the air- not many can do it, and even fewer can then control it!" She took a deep breath. "And, since you can draw it from the air like you can, once you manage to draw it from inside of you it should be easy!"

I paused. "Um, okay." Even I could hear the doubt in my voice.

Her face fell a little, and I immediately felt bad for hesitating like I did.

"Can you show me?" I asked, hoping I sounded eager and not too fake. I think it worked, because she perked up again.

"Sure!" she chirped. I grinned and watched as she held her fingers over her heart. "So, I'm not too sure how to explain how to draw it out… um… I guess… try imagining that there are flames in your veins, instead of blood." I nodded when she looked at me expectantly. "And then… just… draw the flames out?"

"You're telling me," I said. She grimaced.

"Sorry. Then just draw the flames out." She held out her palm and a small fire danced around, casting shadows on her face even in the new sunlight.

I let out a breath and stood. "Okay. Let's try this."

I took another breath and placed two of my fingers near my heart, tracing them along and down my left arm, imagining little fires inside of my being plucked down, dragged by my hand.

And then I took my fingers from my skin and held them up.

And there was a small flame, flickering at the tips of my fingers.

I held it.

I held it.

I held it.

It was small, but I was holding it.

It had a nice warmth to it. One that didn't burn, like the other fires had.

_Why has no one ever told me to do this?! _I thought, a smile splitting my face.

And, when it went away, it was because I decided it should.

Joy exploded inside of me as Saza squealed loud enough to send several birds flapping away before wrapping me in a giant hug and jumping bit. I couldn't stop grinning. I was too happy to tell her that, with every jump, her shoulder slammed into my chin.

I had done it.

_I had done it!_


End file.
